What the Penguins must change to snap their slump, according to an NHL analyst

Dan Muse was satisfied for the most part with the effort of his team on Sunday, which had snapped an eight-game losing streak. He was hoping that Tuesday would be another night like Sunday.

Elements of this plan appeared, but the Penguins did not implement it in full. The Penguins made one too many mistakes in their 6-3 loss at Scotiabank Arena. Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang added to the problem.

Too many odd-man rushes were given up by the Penguins. Toronto scored breakaway goals, a deflected puck, and Brett Kulak recklessly mishandled the Maple Leafs' go-ahead goal in the third period.

With the goalie pulled, a wayward shot/pass by Karlsson led to another scoring chance completed by Bobby McMann.

Pittsburgh dominated the puck possession for about five or so minutes more than Toronto, though the Leafs led 13-5 in rush chances and 23-15 in high-scoring chances.

The Pens are now 15-12-9 with nine losses in the last 10 games, going into the Christmas break, and NHL analyst Jason Mackey believes the Penguins need to quickly reduce the amount of risk in their game if they want to save the season.

Toronto, which had the worst record in the Eastern Conference, looked listless, but mistakes by the Penguins kept them in it.

Domi snapped a 23-game goal-scoring streak with a slot shot past Kulak and Stuart Skinner in the final minute of the third period.

Prior to this, a careless Karlsson play resulted in Stephen Lorentz's goal, as well as mistakes in the first period that led to William Nylander and Matias Maccelli's scores.

Indeed, on the bright side, Rutger McGroarty and Anthony Mantha both scored, evening out the game at 3-3. However, there were numerous bouts of errors and questionable plays that worked against the Penguins.

Muse's team labored on Tuesday, but hard work alone was unable to compensate for mistakes. Pittsburgh's play demonstrated heart but lacked sufficient continuity to turn around this season.